Hang gliders allow manned flight without the expense or restrictions of powered flight. These gliders are aerodynamically designed such that their lift-to-drag ratio (commonly known as glide ratio) is greater than about 10:1 such that the glider is capable of suspending a flyer for several hours under the proper atmospheric conditions. Hang glider designs range from the popular delta wing design commonly known as a Rogallo wing and intermediate gliders with glide ratios of about 10:1 with docile characteristics to competition gliders with glide ratios as high as 13:1, but with less stable characteristics. The original Rogallo wing (about 45.degree. sweep) had a glide ratio of about 4:1, and modern Rogallo wings (about 30.degree. sweep) have a glide ratio of about 10:1.
The Rogallo wing design largely resembles a traditional kite with a keel, cross members, and diverging leading edge members. Another hang glider design generally similar to the Rogallo wing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,406 which issued to Hamilton on Sep. 26, 1978. This glider has a double surface fabric airfoil forming an envelope, disposed around a Rogallo frame. This airfoil is inflated during flight as air enters an opening in the nose and exhausts through nozzles in the underside along the trailing edge. Inflating the wing improves its lift at lower air speeds. This hang glider, however, is manually controlled via a weight shift control bar by a flyer harnessed to the glider and is only useful for manned flights and not for operations such as air drops of food, supplies, etc., where manned flights are either too dangerous or impossible.
Parachutes, on the other hand, can and have been utilized for air drops of food, supplies, etc., in remote locations where landing an airplane is either impossible or dangerous. Although these parachutes are useful in reducing the ground impact of the dropped load, it is difficult to ensure the parachute reaches the targeted area. Depending upon the precise parachute release time, the atmospheric conditions during release and flight, and release altitude, the parachute may either reach its target or drift up to about 15 miles or more off course.
What is needed in the art is a remotely controlled device for article recovery and delivery which can be collapsed, deployed in motion, maneuvered, and which has an improved glide ratio.